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I am an NRA life member and 100% pro gun rights, but I am not sold on the idea of open carry. If you're in rural bear country, or cougar country, ok fine, pack a .454 Casull on your hip. But in an urban setting, to openly carry seems to me to be an exercise in self-indulgence. In the rare event that the SHTF, you are going to be the first one targeted. You should have been carrying concealed. In the event that it doesn't you are just going to scare the living daylights out of libs and give them ammo in their quest to quash gun rights.
Here is a letter to the editor in my local paper complaining about an open carry siting in a library.
Please cite me an instance in which an open-carrying citizen was targeted by a criminal because of the gun they were carrying.
I believe some of them carry it too far, but I DO support "open carry" - in fact, I support Constitutional Carry. I've seen criminals initiate activity in the presence of uniformed police officers - not because they didn't care, but because they "didn't see them." So I find the claim of OC folks being "targeted" to be hyperbole.
I think open carry should be mandatory for all citizens 21 and over. It makes for a more polite society. The people that are against it, are simply not used to it, so there fore, they fear it.
I think open carry should be mandatory for all citizens 21 and over. It makes for a more polite society. The people that are against it, are simply not used to it, so there fore, they fear it.
Mandatory? I don't think so, nobody should be forced by any government to carry a firearm.
I OC quite a bit during the warm time of the year. I have not had a single negative interaction with anybody. Most people don't have the slightest clue what's going on in front of them. The ones who mostly notice are children, and they're not even frightened by the sight of a holstered pistol. The claims about being targeted first or causing hysteria in an urban setting are bunk claims made by people who are either misinformed or totally clueless.
By the way, I know somebody who open carries in downtown Seattle. He's been doing it for a very long time and has never had a bad interaction with anybody. He's never had the cops called on him, either.
I personally wouldn't because I do think open carrying makes one a bit of a target, but I wholly support people should they wish to open carry. That said, I might consider open carrying if it was a common practice (i.e. enough people OCing where doing so wouldn't necessarily make one a target). I think the ideal situation is to have the choice to open or concealed carry.
Our police chief has every right to open carry, but for some reason, chooses to conceal carry. I find that telling.
I am an NRA life member and 100% pro gun rights, but I am not sold on the idea of open carry. If you're in rural bear country, or cougar country, ok fine, pack a .454 Casull on your hip. But in an urban setting, to openly carry seems to me to be an exercise in self-indulgence. In the rare event that the SHTF, you are going to be the first one targeted. You should have been carrying concealed. In the event that it doesn't you are just going to scare the living daylights out of libs and give them ammo in their quest to quash gun rights.
Here is a letter to the editor in my local paper complaining about an open carry siting in a library.
While I understand your point, it's ticking me off that, yet again, the "problem" (as presented by the MSM, not by you) has morphed from why certain people are on the loose to begin with to how we can further erode the gun-carrying rights (whatever they may be) of the law-abiding citizen.
In that same vein, it's interesting (but not surprising) that not one "reporter" will dare ask the president (if he ever decides to have a real press conference) about any plans of his to allow other than paper cops (guards posted at base ingresses/egresses) to be armed (thanks, too, to President GWB for allowing that directive to stand) on military or military-related installations.
The "gun problem" is,in fact, a people problem. In a free society, it's likely that nothing will eradicate crime perpetrated with or without guns BTW. Dismissing the real problem, though, serves only to let the PTB think they're addressing that problem when they're not.
Open carrying is a lot easier than carrying concealed, especially during the warmer months.
The argument about being "targeted" is nonsense. Lots of people have brought it up, but none of them have been able to produce a single news story or other account where this has happened.
OC if it's legal and you want to. Don't be an activist about it, just do it, and go about your business. The activist OCers are to the gun community as the Westboro Baptist Church is to the religious community. They're not doing themselves any favors by being so "in your face" with their beliefs.
Open carrying is a lot easier than carrying concealed, especially during the warmer months.
This is one of the arguments that most resonates with me in favor of open carry. If I lived up north, concealed carry would be a whole lot easier because you can hide a big .45 in all those heavy clothes pretty easily. Down here in TX (where I wear flip-flops year-round), in many situations it is difficult to CC anything but a pocket pistol and still have it reasonably accessible (i.e. in situations when your shirt needs to be tucked in and/or cargo pants aren't appropriate). If I need to defend myself, I do not want to have to untuck/unbutton a shirt or reach down for an ankle holster.
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) has morphed from why certain people are on the loose to begin with to how we can further erode the gun-carrying rights (whatever they may be) of the law-abiding citizen.
) about any plans of his to allow other than paper cops (guards posted at base ingresses/egresses) to be armed (thanks, too, to President GWB for allowing that directive to stand
) on military or military-related installations.
